• A Swedish TV show, "Biss och Kajs," found itself in the spotlight in November -- in Russia, where government-run television apparently used it to send a political message to Ukraine by highlighting the program's theme of teaching children about bodily functions.

The episode Russia chose featured three bulkily-costumed actors sitting around talking -- with one dressed in yellow, one in brown, and the other unmistakably as a large, nude human posterior. ("Biss och Kajs" is highly regarded in Sweden; "biss" and "kajs" refer, respectively to the yellow and brown functions.)

Ukraine (against Russia's wishes) is considering a trade agreement with the European Union, and, the Russian station director said, pointedly, "There you have European values in all their glory." [BBC News, 12-3-2013]

• The Bank of England, arguing before the U.K.'s Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards in October, warned against limiting the bonuses that bankers have come to expect from their lucrative deals -- because that might encroach on their "human rights." The Bank suggested it is a human rights violation even to ask senior executives to demonstrate that they tried hard to comply with banking laws (because it is the government's job to prove violations). [Huffington Post U.K., 10-8-2013]